Mahoro robot carries out dangerous lab work faster than any human

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Mahoro is a general purpose robot co-developed by AIST and Yaskawa designed to carry out dangerous lab work previously done manually by humans.

It can do tasks such as culturing and dispensing with much more accuracy and speed than a human. For example, when tested against vetran lab workers Mahoro completed the tasks with better results and in half the time. Accidents are also far less likely to happen, but when tasks involving nuclear materials and deadly diseases go wrong, no one is harmed in the process.

Robots like Mahoro already exist in factories and other production lines, but Mahoro is different in the sense that his arms have seven joints apposed to factory robots which have six or less. This seventh axis means the robot arms can replicate the elbow joint of a human arm, giving the robot much more flexibility. So Mahoro can move like a human, which allows him to be more efficient than other robots.

Teaching a robot with so many joints usually requires a lot of programming. However, the whole process is sped up for Mahoro by using a virtual space.

To do this, a 3D scanner is used to capture 3D data for every tool they use in the lab, this information is put into the computer which then creates a virtual lab, bench, and robot. The operator simply selects where they want the robot to move and he will follow the instructions and learn that’s what he needs to do for the future. This system also means they can run collision tests to determine if the robot will bang into anything that’s in its way. So lab equipment can be moved around to create a safer and more efficient environment.

Hopefully Mahoro won’t cost too many lab workers their jobs, but he’s already being used at some universities and pharmaceutical companies. His creators intend on improving Mahoro further, so he’s safe enough to work alongside humans rather than just in isolation.